What claims 5,000 years of history, smells like paint thinner, tastes like firewater, and is as popular amongst cabbies as it is Party apparatchiks? Baijiu, a high-alcohol Chinese distilled spirit and Capital Spirits’ raison d'être. For the uninitiated, the bar's intro flight includes tastes of each of the four major types of baijiu accompanied by explanations from one of the bar staff (given in English, Chinese, French, German, or Hebrew—take your pick). There are some 40-odd types of baijiu in stock, all of which you can sample. If the 53 percent ABV of the Moutai Prince taster is too much, switch over to cocktails; the refreshing Baijiu Sour mellows rice liquor with Cointreau, sour mix, orange bitters, and kaffir lime. (3 Daju Hutong near Dongzhimen Nan Xiaojie; +86 0 10 6409 3319)

Hidden House is hidden in plain sight; it’s unmarked, but look carefully and you’ll see that its stone face is brand new. Despite making you work to find it, Hidden House is unpretentious, and most of the cocktails here are little twists on classics: Try the Bourbon Mai Tai (with bourbon instead of rum) or the London Mule (fresh ginger for ginger beer, lemon for lime). There’s also the creamy Secret of Nolita, made with pink vodka, traditional Beijing yogurt, white rum, and brown sugar. (39 Xindong Lu near Jingkelong Lu; +86 0 10 8418 5718)